Heavy media multitaskers can't ignore the irrelevant.
Some of us are jealous of people who can do many things at once, and we wonder how children can study with music, e-mail, and the television on simultaneously. How well do chronic heavy multitaskers deal with distractions? These researchers examined several measures of cognitive control in 41 university students who were heavy media multitaskers (HMMs) or light multitaskers (LMMs) as determined by a multitasking index questionnaire.
Measures assessed task switching and the ability to filter environmental distractions or irrelevant representations in working memory. Compared with LMMs, HMMs were distracted by irrelevant stimuli, responded more slowly to memory probes, were more susceptible to interference from items that seemed familiar, and …
Reviewing Author
DisclosuresRoyaltiesTextbook of Traumatic Brain Injury, 2nd and 3rd editions
Editorial BoardsUpToDate; Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience
Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesNorth American Brain Injury Association (Board Member); National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (Chair of Data Monitoring Safety Board for study of donepezil on cognition after traumatic brain injury)
DisclosuresRoyaltiesTextbook of Traumatic Brain Injury, 2nd and 3rd editions
Editorial BoardsUpToDate; Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience
Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesNorth American Brain Injury Association (Board Member); National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (Chair of Data Monitoring Safety Board for study of donepezil on cognition after traumatic brain injury)